Private Bill introduced on wedding extravaganzaTop Stories

A Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha will seek to put a considerable limit on the number of guests to be invited and dishes to be served in big fat weddings to check “show of wealth.” The bill ought those who spend more than half a million rupees on weddings to contribute towards marriages of poor girls.

The Bill has been proposed by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, wife of MP Pappu Yadav, according to the bill if a family spends more than Rs. five lakh on wedding, they have to contribute 10 percent of the amount on marriages of girls from poor families.

In the upcoming Lok Sabha session “The Marriages” (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016, may be taken up as a private member's Bill.

MP Ranjeet said that the purpose of this bill is to prohibit extravagant and wasteful expenditure on marriages and to enforce simpler solemnization.

She said "Great importance should be assigned to the solemnization of marriage between two individuals. But unfortunately, these days it has become a tendency of celebrating marriages with pomp and show and spending lavishly growing in the country.

Marriages are more about showing off one’s wealth these days and as a result poor families come under a tremendous social pressure to spend more. The matter is needed to be checked as it was not good for society at large.

If any family intends to spend lavishly on a marriage by spending more than Rs 5 Lakh, such families shall declare the amount proposed to be spent in advance to the appropriate government and they should contribute 10 % of such amount to a welfare fund, which will be organized by the appropriate government to assist the poor and below poverty line families for the marriage of their daughters.

After this proposed legislation comes into act, all marriages shall be registered within 60 days of the solemnization.

The government may also fix the number of guest and relatives invited to weddings and the number of dishes to be served to the guests and for solemnization of marriage or for the reception held thereafter as it may deem necessary or expedient to prevent the wastage of food items, it adds.